I am brand new to home schooling! My oldest will be in 1st grade and my middle daughter (4 1/2 yrs old) will be attempting kindergarten. She is so smart that we are going to see how she does with being a year ahead. If she needs more time, she'll still have that extra year and won't be behind. We will be starting officially in the fall but I just can't wait to get started. At first, I thought that we had to have all of these books and sit at a desk for a certain amount of time each day. Since, we have to wait for a month or two (I am a full-time student at the moment) we are just doing some of the fun colorful workbooks that you can buy at Target or Office Depot. It is definitely going a lot slower since I can't dedicate more time each day but my girls are learning. It's amazing to see the lightbulb turn on for them.

Put her on a site like www.starfall.com that she can move around in herself and learn at the same time. Good site to make use of time with. Instead of Nick.com which kids will do if you let them._________________Home EDucators Resource Directory
Comprehensive Resources for the Home Educator for GA region
www.homeEDdirectory.comksellers@HomeEDdirectory.com

Posted: Tue Jul 11, 2006 5:36 pm Post subject: Web sites may not be a good idea for young children...

I'm not sure introducing a very young child to the Internet is a good idea. Even ignoring the whole issue of safety, there's some substance to the argument that hands-on work (in this case, real books rather than a web sites) does a better job of developing the brain. There's just a lot more that can be done in the way of tracing things with your fingers, turning the pages this way and that to visualize the pictures from different angles, etc. There's also less distracting elements in a book vs a web site.

I was thinking more along the lines of arts and crafts...you know, gluing 5 buttons on card stock with the number 5 written on it. That way she can learn to associate the written number with "how much" it is. My daughter is very hands on but would definitely get bored with workbooks all day long ever day. She is one who thrives in variety.

try out www.enchantedlearning.com You can use a lot of info for free or pay a small fee to make life a little easier, but they have fun print outs, and activities for all ages. My boys love the book print outs, and the activities are really easy to figure out._________________Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.